| The X-Files season 5 | |||
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Region 1 DVD cover art |
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| Country of origin | United States | ||
| No. of episodes | 20 | ||
| Broadcast | |||
| Original channel | Fox | ||
| Original run | November 2, 1997 – May 17, 1998 | ||
| Home video release | |||
| DVD release | |||
| Region 1 | May 14, 2002 | ||
| Season chronology | |||
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| List of The X-Files episodes | |||
Season five of the television show The X-Files began airing on the Fox Broadcasting Network from November 2, 1997, concluding on May 17, 1998, with a total of 20 episodes.
Contents |
During this season, The X-Files was FOX's highest rated program. It finished the season at #11 with an average of 17.1 million viewers per episode. It was one of three FOX network shows to rank in the Nielsen Top 20 (the other two being King of the Hill and The Simpsons, all three of which aired on FOX's Sunday night line-up).
Although the X-Files feature film was primarily shot in the hiatus between seasons 4 and 5, the need for several reshoots led to both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny being absent in places throughout the season - for instance, the episodes "Unusual Suspects" and "Travelers" do not feature Anderson's character Dana Scully at all; while the episodes "Chinga" and "Christmas Carol" feature minimal appearances by Duchovny's character Fox Mulder.[1]
This was also the last season of The X-Files to be filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia - after this, production was shifted to Los Angeles for the sixth season and beyond, although The X-Files: I Want to Believe was once more filmed in Vancouver.
Episodes marked with an asterisk (*) are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk (**) are part of the series' Alien Mythology.
| № | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 1 | "Redux"** | R. W. Goodwin | Chris Carter | November 2, 1997 | 5X02 | 27.34[2] |
| Scully helps Mulder fake his death, but comes under intense scrutiny; Skinner is suspected as the traitor inside the FBI; and Mulder breaks into the Department of Defense in a desperate bid to save Scully, but while doing so he finds himself facing the truth about the aliens he has been chasing. | |||||||
| 99 | 2 | "Redux II"** | Kim Manners | Chris Carter | November 9, 1997 | 5X03 | 24.80[2] |
| While Scully lies on her deathbed; the Smoking Man makes an important decision in helping Mulder. But even as events come to a climax, Mulder finds his belief in his crusade has all but collapsed. | |||||||
| 100 | 3 | "Unusual Suspects"* | Kim Manners | Vince Gilligan | November 16, 1997 | 5X01 | 21.72[2] |
| The origins of the Lone Gunmen are explored. In 1989, two salesmen and a federal employee join forces when they meet Susanne Modeski, a woman who claims that she is being pursued by her violent ex-boyfriend, an FBI agent named Fox Mulder. We learn how agent Mulder came to meet three friendly and familiar faces. | |||||||
| 101 | 4 | "Detour" | Brett Dowler | Frank Spotnitz | November 23, 1997 | 5X04 | 22.88[2] |
| On the way to an FBI convention in Florida, Mulder and Scully stop to help in the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of three people in the woods, where a pair of invisible humanoids lurk. | |||||||
| 102 | 5 | "The Post-Modern Prometheus" | Chris Carter | Chris Carter | November 30, 1997 | 5X06 | 18.68[2] |
| Filmed in black-and-white, The Post-Modern Prometheus chronicles Mulder and Scully’s investigation when a letter from a single mother leads them to a small mid-Western town where a modern-day version of Frankenstein's monster lurks, Jerry Springer is an obsession, and Cher plays a significant part. | |||||||
| 103 | 6 | "Christmas Carol"* | Peter Markle | Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz | December 7, 1997 | 5X05 | 20.91[2] |
| Home for the holidays, Scully is haunted by dreams which hint at a strange connection to a murdered woman’s daughter. | |||||||
| 104 | 7 | "Emily"* | Kim Manners | Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz | December 14, 1997 | 5X07 | 20.94[2] |
| Scully fights to protect her daughter’s life, while Mulder discovers her true origins. | |||||||
| 105 | 8 | "Kitsunegari" | Daniel Sackheim | Vince Gilligan & Tim Minear | January 4, 1998 | 5X08 | 19.75[2] |
| When ‘Pusher’ Modell escapes from prison, Mulder and Scully race to catch him before he can take revenge against his favorite target — Agent Mulder. | |||||||
| 106 | 9 | "Schizogeny" | Ralph Hemecker | Jessica Scott & Mike Wollaeger | January 11, 1998 | 5X09 | 21.37[2] |
| When a teenager is suspected of murdering his father, Mulder and Scully become convinced that a greater evil may be lurking in the community. | |||||||
| 107 | 10 | "Chinga" | Kim Manners | Stephen King & Chris Carter | February 8, 1998 | 5X10 | 21.33[2] |
| Scully takes a vacation to Maine, where she encounters a bizarre case where the victims appear to have inflicted wounds upon themselves — apparently at the behest of a strange young girl. This episode was co-written by famous horror writer Stephen King. It carries the alternate title of "Bunghoney" in some sources. | |||||||
| 108 | 11 | "Kill Switch" | Rob Bowman | William Gibson & Tom Maddox | February 15, 1998 | 5X11 | 18.04[2] |
| While investigating the strange circumstances of the death of a reclusive computer genius rumored to have been researching artificial intelligence, Mulder and Scully become targets of an unlikely killer capable of the worst kind of torture. The episode was co-written by cyberpunk pioneers William Gibson and Tom Maddox. | |||||||
| 109 | 12 | "Bad Blood" | Cliff Bole | Vince Gilligan | February 22, 1998 | 5X12 | 19.25[2] |
| While investigating bizarre exsanguinations in Texas, Mulder kills a teenage boy whom he "mistakes" for a vampire. Awaiting a meeting with Skinner, Mulder and Scully attempt to get their stories “straight” by relating to each other their differing versions of what happened during their investigation. Gillian Anderson voted this her favorite episode. | |||||||
| 110 | 13 | "Patient X"** | Kim Manners | Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz | March 1, 1998 | 5X13 | 20.21[2] |
| Scully forms a bond with Cassandra Spender, a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens. While Mulder’s disbelief in the alien conspiracy is now questioned, he finds himself with more personal threats at the FBI. | |||||||
| 111 | 14 | "The Red and the Black"** | Chris Carter | Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz | March 8, 1998 | 5X14 | 20.00[2] |
| With Cassandra Spender missing, and her son Jeffrey angrily attempting to push his way up in the FBI, Mulder has Scully put under hypnosis to learn the truth. The Syndicate, meanwhile, quicken their tests for the alien vaccine, sacrificing their own to do so. | |||||||
| 112 | 15 | "Travelers" | William A. Graham | John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz | March 29, 1998 | 5X15 | 15.06[2] |
| In 1990, a bizarre murder leads young agent Fox Mulder to question a former FBI Agent who investigated one of the first X-Files dating back to the 1950s — a case which may have involved Mulder’s father. | |||||||
| 113 | 16 | "Mind's Eye" | Kim Manners | Tim Minear | April 19, 1998 | 5X16 | 16.53[2] |
| Agents Mulder and Scully investigate a murder that seems to have been committed by a blind woman, but Mulder suspects that her involvement is not what it seems. Guest starring Lili Taylor and Blu Mankuma. | |||||||
| 114 | 17 | "All Souls" | Allen Coulter | Teleplay by: Frank Spotnitz & John Shiban Story by: Billy Brown & Dan Angel |
April 26, 1998 | 5X17 | 13.44[2] |
| The unexplained death of a young handicapped girl prompts Father McCue to ask Scully for her help, but her investigation leads her to a mystery she’s afraid to understand. | |||||||
| 115 | 18 | "The Pine Bluff Variant" | Rob Bowman | John Shiban | May 3, 1998 | 5X18 | 18.24[2] |
| Scully begins to grow suspicious of Mulder, whose increasingly strange behaviour suggests he may be serving another agenda. Guest starring Daniel von Bargen and Sam Anderson. | |||||||
| 116 | 19 | "Folie a Deux" | Kim Manners | Vince Gilligan | May 10, 1998 | 5X19 | 17.63[2] |
| Mulder and Scully encounter a delusional man who believes his boss may be a monster — and is willing to pay any price to prove it. | |||||||
| 117 | 20 | "The End"** | R. W. Goodwin | Chris Carter | May 17, 1998 | 5X20 | 18.80[2] |
| Investigating the murder of a chess player, Mulder and Scully meet a boy who may be the embodiment of everything in the X-Files. This episode marks the first appearance of Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) | |||||||
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